Panicking a bit

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orejunky

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So bought wine juice in buckets last night in the city 6 hrs away arrived at home at 2am. Too tired to do anything and then had to work. I began sterilizing everything and got everything ready and my wine was already fermenting in the bucket. I gave it a good stir and through it in the demijon and a couple gallon jugs. The airlock are on and gurgling away. What are my chances here that everything will be OK?
 
So bought wine juice in buckets last night in the city 6 hrs away arrived at home at 2am. Too tired to do anything and then had to work. I began sterilizing everything and got everything ready and my wine was already fermenting in the bucket. I gave it a good stir and through it in the demijon and a couple gallon jugs. The airlock are on and gurgling away. What are my chances here that everything will be OK?

As long as there is extra space in each container, then you should be okay. Meaning, there should be 1/3 air and 2/3 wine in each container so that you don't have wine volcanos.

Did you add yeast or did the juice already have it?
 
That's the amount of space I have

@orejunky That likely will be fine. I keep my fermenters sitting on a towel just in case the fermentation is foamy.

Have you made wine before? And do you have all the information you need to make your batch? We're all happy to help.
 
1st time. I have absolutely everything...this guy was making wine for 30 years but he is done sizing and basically gave everything away. I probably should have went with a concentrate instead of the juice based on my distance away from the place of purchase.
 
Hiya orejunky - just one note of caution. If you are planning to add any nutrients or any powders of any kind during the next two or three weeks or so make sure to dissolve these in some water or other liquid. The addition of particles will cause the carbon dioxide to be expelled and the energy the gas will have will push up any wine that is above it as the gas pushes through the mouth of the carboy. That is what creates "volcanoes" and that is why many wine makers tend to use a fermenting bucket (food grade plastic) as their primary fermenter, racking the wine to a glass carboy that they then seal with bung and airlock after the most active period of fermentation has come to an end (with the specific gravity at around 1.005). During the time when the yeast is most active the amount of CO2 (the carbon dioxide) that the yeast produces blankets the wine and so there is really no necessity to bang in a bung and airlock - although the sound of the gas bubbling through the airlock is pleasant music to the ears of a wine maker
 
Good to know...since this is my 1st time I am going to keep it simple and not add anything. I got some food grade buckets now since that is what the juice came in. I guess that's why there is a place to punch the hole out of the bucket. Would I just put an plug with an airlock in that hole? That does seem a lot simpler...I'll keep that in mind next time around.
 
I agree 100% with @BernardSmith


if you add nutrient, get ready for a volcano!

My suggestion is this..

- split up the batch so that you have 30% headspace.

- Remove the fermentation trap. The CO2 coming out of the jugs will prevent any air or bacteria from contacting your wine. A fermentation trap at this point only runs the risk of getting clogged, allowing pressure to build, popping off, and producing yet another volcano.

- Stop panicking and have some wine!
 
The only problem with that is that I'm 6hrs away from another demijohn. I work a 7 days in 7 days out, and I got this going in my room. I will be around for the next 20 days, then after that I am away for 10 days. I planned it so that it has about a month to let the yeast do it's job. Then top it up with my gallon jugs and let her mature for a while. it was a bit of spur of the moment thing. I got the equipment, sterilized everything and bought some juice...seemed simple but I'm learning there are intricacies that are worrisome.
 

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